Yes, I have to confess, I indeed have a “Pinterest” account.  It really is a pretty cool thing to add to my list of things I have but I do not understand, like computers, cell phones, Facebook, this blog, my wife, my daughter, and my sons.  Yes, I THINK I sometimes understand them, but in the end I realize I am fighting a losing battle.

But the cool part about Pinterest that I seem to be good at is just re “pinning” stuff that other people already find.  It is truly mindless and for me, particularly lately, that is just what I need…..the ability to look in touch with something modern while not understanding the first thing about it.  It’s kind of like being a double agent for the technology-challenged.

In truth though, it does sometimes feel a little too “girly” for me.  I like to look at food that I could make to eat on it though because I am always dieting.  It seems pretty good for that, and there seems to be a lot of funny stuff too.  So the concept is that I mooch off other people’s great ideas and pins and collect them for my own.  It makes me feel pretty cutting edge if you know what I mean….

And then others follow you on there too….repinning the things that you repin.  They follow you!  It’s too bad that they do not know what I know……I am a complete Pinterest fraud.

But who cares?  I am off to find a few more good diet ideas!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes it is true, tonight is my 1500th blog post for “Tales of a Faithful Dragonslayer.”  I have enjoyed sharing our lives with you, and even more than that, I have gotten a lot out of it.  I have heard from people all across the globe, and have been blessed by your comments, criticisms, and insights.  It has been a blast.

Tonight I want to share about our son Scotty who as regular readers know, wants to be a United States Marine……and no, because people have been asking, this story is not the genesis of my break…..so I will move on here.

To bring new readers up to speed, and to refresh others, Scotty graduated high school in 2011 and was scheduled to arrive at college in St. Louis later that year to study music.  He is a talented musician, and was excited about the prospects of this opportunity.  He however came to me just a couple of months before he was to leave and told me, thinking I would be mad, that he wanted to become a Marine.

It of course flashed me back to being 17 and sitting in a Marine recruiter’s office.  I was a pretty undisciplined kid, okay VERY undisciplined, and I was also probably as they say in today’s language “at risk.”  (You can fill in your own blanks if you want)  At 17 I had no real supervision and had managed to screw up my life royally on a variety of fronts.  I knew I needed to change, and considered nothing other the the Marines.

And like any kid like me, I had dreams of making a real life for myself.  The Sargent had me already, I had just not signed my name.  But when he asked me what I wanted to do when I got out of the Corps I shared that I thought I would like to go to college and maybe become a doctor.  Sure, it was a lofty dream, but I was looking forward in hope.  But he apparently did not believe he had me so he said, “You sign with the Marines young man and we will make you a doctor within 2 years.”

In retrospect I am surprised I survived that encounter in light of the things I said to him.  They were vulgar and cutting, and the language of my youth, not the language of my life now.  But I left and did not sign.  I knew better, he was lying to me.  And it was one of the biggest mistakes I made in my life.

Oddly enough at the end of seminary I had a chance to go in again…….as a chaplain.  It was appealing to think I could fulfill a dream and call myself a Marine, but as I remember you had to go in through the Navy….but the big kicker was that chaplains did not carry guns.  It just didn’t fit my MO.

So needless to say, I was deeply honored when Scotty shared his intentions with me.  I will be the father of a US Marine, and to me that is a great honor.  I will spare you the details, but the gist is that Scotty was scheduled to leave in December of this year for bootcamp and would be away about 9 months and return to serve in the Reserves while finishing college.  This weekend however, that all changed.

On SEPTEMBER 24th, Scotty will be flown to San Diego, California where he will begin bootcamp.  We will not hear from him for 13 weeks.  He will graduate on December 21st becoming a US Marine during bootcamp.  He will no longer be serving in the Reserves to finish college….he will have to do that wherever he is stationed.  That’s right, Scott is now going active duty and will fulfill his dream AND serve his country.  And in my mind, I cannot think of a better subject to post for my 1500th.

These next three weeks I am sure will be a blur, but we are thankful to have them.  We are so very proud of him.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well after more than 15 hours on the road, I am home and in my bed.  Steph is now back at school so it is just Amanda, the boys, the dog, and the cat……but the only one I have been able to talk to is the cat, and only because I gave her some treats.  1AM is not exactly my original plan, but I was able to drift a little east and have lunch with my Uncle Al.  I however am a MORON because I should have had the waitress take a picture of us.  Sadly, I have no evidence of this story other than my word!!

But I did learn a few things on this trip.  One, all the states look pretty much the same when you are driving in the dark.  Two, no one in the south knows what “unsweetened” tea is.  Three, when you want a Chick-fil-A it will always be Sunday.  And finally, my bed, although I will not be in it long, is far more comfortable than my car!  THANK GOD!

But for now I am off to bed!  Thanks Uncle Al for the great lunch and visit!!  And thanks SC for the quick, but productive visit!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today has been a spectacular day!  I was able to attend the Consecration of a seminary friend, Steve Wood, who was consecrated the FIRST Bishop of the NEW Diocese of the Carolinas!  It was a wonderful service full of wonderful people and a real blessing to be able to be a part of.  I am so very thankful for the opportunity.

Steve was actually a year behind me in seminary.  He has had an impressive ministry over the years and is really, besides God Himself calling him, a great choice to be the Bishop.  Steve has a heart for his people, and I am very encouraged to see him raised up.

Of course he is the third friend of mine raised up to Bishop.  My current Bishop, Roger Ames (pictured above), and my former Bishop, Doc Loomis, are the other two.  It is very surreal.  Bishops were always someone else…..Steve mentioned it this morning in the service how odd it was to put on a purple shirt.  I am sure it is, as it is to see your friends in them……I am just glad it is not me!! It is a heavy weight and an important calling.  I am encouraged to see Steve raised up to this call.  He has a lot to speak into our ministry as a Bishop!  God Bless him!

But for now I am in my bed and thinking about the long drive tomorrow.  It has been worth the trip!  Thank God that He raises up good souls to do His Work!  Blessings to you Bishop Steve, my brother!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well I have spent the ENTIRE DAY (except for the last couple of hours) on the road.  But after close to 12 hours I arrived in Mount Pleasant SC where I will attend the Consecration of a seminary friend of mine, Steve Wood, who will become the FIRST Bishop of the Carolinas!  And I am here to support my brother as well as to talk to people about the Order.

But after all that driving, I felt I deserved a bit of relaxation, so I drove the couple of miles to the beach and walked a couple of miles.  I called Ben on my walk and let him listen to the waves.  I asked him if he wanted me to bring him home some shells, which he did.  He also then ordered a hermit crab, a seagull, no sharks, but a BUNCH of fish.  I told him I would see what I could do.  In all honesty I was surprised that he didn’t have Aquaman meet me there to help collect all his stuff.

But this will be a quick, and hopefully productive trip.  Steph has headed back to college, and I saw her this morning at 4am.  It was hard to know she was leaving, and it made the drive harder, and I wondered whether it was harder for her to leave the nest or for me to let her go.  I do remember 20 though, and my heart was not as much on my family as it was on my life.  Looking back, I wish I had done better.  But hindsight is n ever 20/20…..it is ALWAYS more clear than that!  It is a bittersweet trip, but I will make the most of it.

Of course seeing the ocean is pretty cool.  I did however grow up around a port……MICHIGAN CITY INDIANA!!!  I am just not used to salt water.  My walk was however, pretty relaxing.  And I am thankful for it…I am totally worn out!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Although my day has been productive, it has also been a disaster in terms of my getting through it.  I am now at home IN BED, and that would be marvelous if I didn’t have to get up and leave at 4am for a work trip!!  Oh but burglars beware!!  We are well-prepared when I or anyone else travels.  And that is partially why I feel comfortable in sharing it here!

But my day began with having to miss bootcamp.  It honked me off, but there was no way I would be able to do what I needed to do if I attended.  In addition to that, I entered a meeting time wrong on my calendar and missed the meeting.  Fortunately he was VERY GRACIOUS and met me an hour and a half later.  But the whole day was like that, and to be honest, it has wore me out!!

I was able to both drop off and pick up Ben today though.  As we arrived at school he shared how nervous he was.  When the doors opened I walked in with him and when he looked at me I said, “Don’t look at me, I don’t know where your room is!”  And suddenly he got smart!  He led me right to the door.  My attempt to talk to him as we arrived there was ineffective.  He was there and he wanted to go!!  He was working me the whole time.

After school he was his usual self.  He could not remember a thing of what went on and wanted to play with the stash of toys he had in the car.  As the reality of bedtime hit later on however, Amanda said he suddenly remembered everything IN DETAIL as sharing would keep him up longer.  As I have shared as recently as yesterday, he is a pro.  I bow to his greatness.

But I am saddened in the fact that I will be just kissing him goodbye on my way out the door in a few hours…..at least I can wake the others up!!  (Not that they are looking forward to it)  But tomorrow I will get “the report.”  Hopefully the word “principal” will not come up…..but if it does I will admit, genetics is a hard thing to escape.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, it is official, today Ben started his regular school career, which in my family we defined as more of a “sentence.”  And to my great surprise, I received not one call from the principal, nor the police.  All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Amanda dropped him off, as she wanted to walk him to his room.  She was worried he would not be able to get there, and I was against it as it was probably his first and only chance to escape.  I mean, speaking from experience, once a teacher and all those administrative types know your name the leash gets quite a bit tighter.  PLUS….he milks the doting for all it is worth.  He swears he cannot remember his home room number, yet he remembers every single solitary detail about Spiderman and every other superhero.  And, in addition to that, all I need to do is offer a small bribe of some type and he suddenly remembers.  He is a pro……

So I picked him up.  He was wearing his backpack on the FRONT, and looked sort of like a paratrooper….if paratroopers were that short and wore Transformer backpacks that is.  He was in a group of other kindergartners and he of course was the second one to get corralled back into the herd as he, sure enough, started to wander on his own.   (It is not unexpected as he often has to leave to fight crime.)

But I hope you enjoy the pictures and I have a video too, but it will not on this site.  It however is great!!  The video is when I took him for an ice cream……and if you listen carefully, he tells me that he has graduated.

Pretty darn good for day one!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

If you were expecting something from me today, I am very sorry……..I have barely made it through the day.  I have been working at things non-stop, and there were two very important things I had to do TODAY that as a dad were non-negotiable.  First was to attend Ben’s Kindergarten Open House tonight to meet his teacher and get acclimated to the new setting, and then two, I had promised Steph weeks ago to change her brakes on her car BEFORE she left for school again.  I was out of time for both things.

Ben’s school and teacher were great!  Tomorrow will be such a big day for him (and for us).  We enjoyed the whole affair, and it is hard to believe that he is really going to the big house!!

And…… as you can see from the picture (photo courtesy of Kara Cashen Awesome Photos of her Friends Unlimited ©2012 all rights reserved), we did manage to fit in our brake job, albeit partially in the dark.  What I can say however is that I ONLY HELPED……Steph changed the brakes!  I told her I would teach her, and she did great!  She then test drove her car around the neighborhood and was quite pleased!!  Her brake pads had worn all the way down and it was quite an accomplishment for her!  It was awesome!

But tomorrow is Ben’s first day, and I will be then scrambling to make up all that I promised I would do today!  I never enjoy falling behind, but I thank God for a memorable day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+